The big hitter has been stupendous form in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix
Many times when a team wins the title after months of hard work, the next season doesn’t turn out well. The trend is common in most T20 leagues as the squads assemble only for a few months of the year before dispersing until the next season rolls in. The reasons are myriad, but the results form a downward curve most of the times.
As the ground work for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 begins in a few months with the retentions, first-time champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have a big decision to make. Should they keep Liam Livingstone or let him go into the auction pool?
It is going to be a mini auction and RCB can keep a lot of their title-winning squad for IPL 2026. But that would be facing the pitfalls of a defending champion and ignoring the long-term successes of the franchise. They have gotten hold of the elusive trophy, the plans for 2026 should be to keep it in Bengaluru. For that to happen, there needs to be competition for places in the playing XI.
SLK
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GAW
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TKR
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ABF
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ADKRDM
167/6
MIEDM
94/10
Abu Dhabi Knight Riders Development beat MI Emirates Development by 73 runs
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SWDM
71/2
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DCDM
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GGDM
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DVDM
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SDS
109/2
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Match abandoned due to rain
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ODW
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Match Abandoned
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CDK
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KENT
225/10
YOR
301/9
Yorkshire beat Kent by 76 runs
SOM
240/2
NOR
238/10
Somerset beat Northamptonshire by 8 wickets (D/L) method
LAN
291/8
MID
292/9
Middlesex beat Lancashire by 1 wickets
DER
322/10
ESS
366/6
Essex beat Derbyshire by 44 runs
BB
258/10
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277/9
Sussex beat Birmingham Bears by 22 runs (D/L) method
GLO
313/7
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315/5
Hampshire win by 5 wickets (DLS Method)
GLAM
278/3
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274/10
Glamorgan beat Leicestershire by 7 wickets
WOR
269/4
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266/6
Worcestershire Rapids win by 6 wickets (DLS Method)
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108/4
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109/2
Italy Women won by 8 wickets
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111/3
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110/10
Ireland Women beat Netherlands Women by 7 wickets
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Match Called off
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Thrissur Titans won by 5 wickets
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128/9
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172/8
Calicut Globstars beat Alleppey Ripples by 44 runs
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100/10
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210/2
Hubli Tigers beat Mangalore Dragons by 110 runs
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122/8
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126/2
Bengaluru Blasters won by 8 wkts
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BNB
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IAI
92/10
YSG
95/3
Yallah Shabab Giants won by 7 wickets
MUT
92/7
ROS
84/1
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54/3
VLLY
231/3
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139/7
Valley beat Sandgate Redcliffe by 93 runs
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139/7
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96/2
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94/10
Northern Superchargers Women beat Manchester Originals Women by 8 wickets
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143/3
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139/9
Lucknow Falcons beat Noida Super Kings by 7 wickets
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198/3
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70/10
Kanpur Superstars beat Kashi Rudras by 128 runs
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MEMA
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NOSK
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Livingstone has been a sought-after marauder by T20 leagues worldwide and his ability to clear the ropes irrespective of the size of the stadium earned him his demand. There is enough evidence in the most recent matches in The Hundred 2025 where he has clobbered Rashid Khan for 26 runs in a single over. But that is at home.
Livingstone was a phenomenon of the modern-age pyrotechnics when he first started playing in the sub-continental conditions with England A back in 2018.
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After his first season of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2019, Livingstone averaged a superb 33 after 13 T20s and boasted of a strike rate of 132.
Over the next four years, Livingstone switched his role from being someone who plays the big innings to being the pinch-hitter for the side who unleashes carnage within a small amount of time. During this period, he played in a T20 World Cup, three seasons of PSL and four seasons of IPL.
Even though his T20 average in spin-friendly conditions dropped to 27, he was striking at an absurd 152 by 2023 and was kept for three seasons at Punjab Kings despite managing to play a full season just once. After splashing a whopping INR 11.5 crore in the 2022 auction, the franchise paid double the amount for the next two seasons to retain him.
A haul of 437 runs from 14 league games at a stupendous strike rate of 182 and an average of 36 could’ve prompted the franchise to keep for two more seasons, but the dwindling appearances and the eventual returns meant Livingstone had to go into the IPL 2025 auction.
There is a pattern to how Livingstone’s returns have diminished on pitches that he don’t favour him. In SA20, he played 10 games for MI Cape Town in the 2023-24 season where he scored 109 runs that left little to no impact on the team’s fortunes, followed by just four matches for Pretoria Capitals in the next season where he managed just 49 runs at a strike rate of 89.
When he played his first season of PSL in 2018, Livingstone played 11 matches for Karachi Kings and amassed 321 runs and boasted of an average of 32. In the next two seasons for Peshawar Zalmi across two pandemic years and in 2022, the Englishman featured in eight and four matches respectively, scoring a grand total of 147 runs at an average less than 15.
Since 2024, Livingstone’s reputation outside home has been patchy at best. In SA20, he had no impact for MICT, while there were only two notable finishing jobs for PBKS in the IPL – an unbeaten 38 off 21 balls against Delhi Capitals and another unbeaten 28 off 17 balls against Lucknow Super Giants.
His three fifties in the last year and a half have come while playing for England, Lancashire and Birmingham Phoenix in Cardiff, Manchester and The Oval respectively. This imperious streak at home continued in 2025 where he averages 69 at a strike rate of 162 for the Phoenix in The Hundred 2025, averages 36 in the T20 Blast and boasts of a strike rate of 175 for Lancashire. But its surprisingly low when he played on Indian soil for England (strike rate of 127 from five matches) and for RCB in IPL 2025 (133 strike rate from 10 matches).
RCB will and must think twice before putting Livingstone on their retained list for IPL 2026 because it comes with a huge asterisk. He might have an innings like the 15-ball 25 in the final that proved to be vital for their maiden title win, but they will have to bear the burden of seven or eight rough knocks that can be detrimental to their title defence.
